1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof connector used in connecting a wire harness for vehicles.
2. Related Art
In FIGS. 4 and 5, a wire introducing portion b is provided at the rear of a terminal receiving chamber a.sub.1 of a connector housing a. An elastic waterproof packing c having a plurality of wire insertion holes c.sub.1 is inserted into the wire introducing portion b, followed by a pressing member d having a plurality of wire insertion holes d.sub.1. A cam member e is inserted into the wire introducing portion b from one of its outer side surface, and crosses the inside of the wire introducing portion b so as to be engaged with the pressing member d. Here, the cam member e presses the pressing portion d in the vertical direction. By this pressing force, the waterproof packing c is pressed to the waterproof packing contact surface b1 of the wire introducing portion b and the outer surfaces of wires f. A terminal metal fitting g is connected to each of the wires f.
FIG. 5A illustrates the temporary engagement state of the pressing member d with the connector housing a. In this condition, the terminal fittings g and the wires f are inserted into the terminal receiving chamber a.sub.1 through the wire insertion holes c.sub.1 of the elastic waterproof packing c. The pressing member d is then pushed and moved further to its permanent engagement position, thereby pressing the elastic waterproof packing c as shown in FIG. 5B.
In the pressed stage, as shown in FIG. 6, portions c.sub.2 and c.sub.3 of the pressed elastic waterproof packing c are deformed by the support wall a2 of the connector housing a and the pressing wall of the pressing member d. In view of this, to press the waterproof packing contact surface b1 of the wire introducing portion b and the outer surfaces of the wires f, it is necessary to exert large pressing forces on the elastic waterproof packing c.